On Binyavanga Wainaina: the dreamer is dead but the dream lives on

Man reaches his prime and then, when he has the most to give, the most to live for, he dies.

These are the words that Okuro Aruji, my old classmate reminded me of soon after news broke that Writer Binyavanga Wainaina – the 2002 Caine Prize for African Writing winner – had taken a final bow.

In case you are at sea, my friend does not own these words. American author Sidney Sheldon does. That is beside the point though.

Neither my friend nor I ever met Binyavanga, the man. Our reflections on him in the wake of his exit, therefore, focused on his contribution to literature, and not his persona.

We talked about Binyavanga Wainaina, the true Africanist and essayist to whom few contemporary writers could hold a candle. We also said something about the hypothesis that he was a protégé of the father of the east African novel, Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

Let’s revert to Sidney Sheldon’s opinion. Don’t you marvel at the aptness with which it captures the magnitude of the loss that contemporary literature suffered as a result of his exit?

 It will never be contentious that he had reached his literary prime when death came calling. At the same time, it is undeniable that he passed on at a time when many looked up to him in literary circles. And it is not in doubt that he rested at a time when he had the most to live for. This is what brings me to the heart of my thoughts on the fallen man of letters.

Binyavanga died at a time when he, if you may, had outgrown Kenya. He had turned into a global literary ambassador of sorts, the proof to the world that good literature still resides, not only in east but in diaspora Africa as well. And he had a vision for Africa. That dream that he talks about in his essay I want a continent of upright people (Expound – The Magazine for Arts & Aesthetics, December, 2016) refers.

In this essay, Binyavanga reveals his fidelity to his search for the African continent of his dreams.

He calls upon us to join him in turning Africa into a continent of upright people – people who love the continent and have her best interests at heart. He envisions an absolutely decolonised Africa. 

He wades into the African Language politics.

In total and open disregard of what critics and detractors think, he uses lofty words in his praise of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s intellect. He calls Ngugi a genius. In an effortless move that is characteristic of a shrewd writer, he declares that he, too, is a genius.

He however concedes that his genius is incomparable to Ngugi’s. This, he does without leaving a bitter taste in the mouth of the reader. What he excites, instead, is a likeable sense of pride.

He then adds his voice to Ngugi’s call for the decolinisation of the African mind through unreserved adoption of African languages – the reservoirs of African pride, culture and values.

In his view, unless we promote the use of our mother tongues, our continent will eternally be plagued by corruption and vices such as nepotism. He counsels us to rethink our position in regard to matters mother tongue. Unless we do this, he warns, Africans will continue sending their children to school to learn their colonial master’s languages only for the educated sons to come back, get government jobs and propagate nepotism and corruption.

If we do not change our attitude, he foretells that the educated will dip their hands in the public purse and go (mis)appropriate their loot in the lands of the colonial masters. This is, indeed, very sad.

Binyavanga is in a lobbying mission. He wants to whip Africa into his corner. He underscores the need for solidarity when he points out that to achieve the dream he has for Africa, he needs a critical mass of the African population by his side. And there is urgency.

 He wants a hundred million people in five years to join his movement. In ten years, he wants the following to clock a billion. The movement membership is open. In the movement, the cause overrides one’s political affiliation, race, tribe and ethnicity among other barriers notwithstanding.

To demonstrate his commitment to his cause, he extends his invitation to people who hate him personally like Nanjala on Twitter. He wants university don Abenea Ndago who has been his consistent and stubborn critic to come on board too. He is ready to make peace with everybody in the interest of the movement. This is a movement that knows no enmity.

This Africa that Binyavanga envisions is the one whose birth we should all support. And when it’s finally born, democracy and good governance will thrive. Peace, love and unity will be the glue that holds us together as a people. There will be equal opportunity for all. Never again will we need tall relatives and contacts to secure jobs or school admissions. Our sense of nationalism and patriotism will be heightened. There will be no more political coups and assassinations. Binyavanga volunteered to lead from the front. But he is no more.

The dreamer is dead but the dream lives on. Let’s close ranks and achieve this dream. It’s achievable, isn’t it?